Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target Cut to $170.00 by Analysts at Evercore ISI

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its target price cut by research analysts at Evercore ISI from $175.00 to $170.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “in-line” rating on the specialty retailer’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 7.52% from the stock’s previous close.

WSM has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. KeyCorp upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $176.75.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM stock traded down $0.04 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $158.11. The company had a trading volume of 664,923 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,995,246. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $157.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.62. Williams-Sonoma has a one year low of $125.33 and a one year high of $219.98. The company has a market capitalization of $19.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.69, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.47.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total transaction of $6,020,166.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. This represents a 43.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total transaction of $4,973,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,018,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $168,826,041.72. The trade was a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,227 shares of company stock worth $18,520,913 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 99.0% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 199 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Company Profile

Williams-Sonoma, Inc operates as an omni-channel specialty retailer of various products for home. It offers cooking, dining, and entertaining products, such as cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor, furniture, and a library of cookbooks under the Williams Sonoma Home brand, as well as home furnishings and decorative accessories under the Williams Sonoma lifestyle brand; and furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs, table essentials, and decorative accessories under the Pottery Barn brand.